650hp 1970 Ford Ranchero at Drag Challenge 2018

By Carly Dale | Photos: Chris Thorogood, 12 Nov 2018Drag Challenge

SYDNEY’S Stephen Willies built his ’70 Ford Ranchero as a matching tow car for his eight-second ’70 Ford Torino drag car. “It’s cool to use a car of the same make and colour as a tow vehicle, like they did back in the day,” he says.

But it seems all that quarter-mile action has got into Stephen’s blood, as he’s now turned the classic ute into a massively stout race car in its own right! Under the hood sits 521 cubes of Ford goodness, thanks to a Ford Racing stroker kit, topped by Kaase race heads, an Edelbrock Torker II manifold and a 1000cfm Pro Systems carby. Getting the power down the line is a C6 trans with a relatively streetable Dominator 3500 stally. A nine-inch sits out back, packed with 3.55s, Detroit Locker and 31-spline Strange axles.